The Great Admiral
by OmegaSpark
Summary: "He had never been defeated in battle. He had never failed at any task, no matter what the challenge. He was never wrong. The Imperial Admiral's only flaw was that he had been so revered, some said even more so than any Prophet. For the sin he had been exiled to the fringe worlds of the vast Covenant Empire."
1. Chapter 1

I GIVE ABSOLUTE CREDIT TO ERIC NYLUND WHO WROTE THE NOVEL, GHOSTS OF ONYX, AND THE HALO FRANCHISE THAT INFLUENCED THIS FANFICTION TREMENDOUSLY.

A Note

I disliked the fact that there was this epic 11"6 sangheili/elite in the Halo universe and they simply took him out of the picture with a dumb accident. Instead of him dying, I'd like to imagine alternative occurrences. I wondered what would had become of him if he escaped in a ship when he had the chance to do so, if he took his chances and entered slipspace with the NOVA bomb exploding, if he lost all faith in the Great Journey instead of clinging to dying Covenant beliefs. I like the fact that his life and everything under his persona is unknown since he was practically an abandoned character. I could morph or shape him in a fanfic and he'd still fit the him who got atomized in a comical accident. Damn that was really a slap in the face when I came across him. His potential was too great so he was practically killed off.

I didn't feel like creating entirely new storyline deviating from canon Halo, since I heard that the new "Halo 6" would deem Halo 4 and 5 non-canon, but I wondered, "Hey! Let's just toss him into the Mass Effect universe and see what happens to him." I love Mass Effect and read and remembered a lot of lore, but it's been a while since I played them so forgive or criticise any inaccuracies before I build on them. In the end I'd like to change him up to my kind of alien hero.

Let's begin.

* * *

Chapter 1

"I, like all of you, believed in our leaders and their holy Covenant."

"How could we have been so willing to believe a Covenant of lies!"

"The Great Schism is upon us. The unbreakable Covenant Writ of Union has been split asunder. This is the end of the Ninth, and final, Age."

"I call upon you all to join me. Let the old ways fade and battle by my side. Together we can forge a new, better union—a new Covenant among the stars."

Xytan 'Jar Wattinree, the sangheili Imperial Admiral and commander of the Combined Fleet of Righteous Purpose, recalled moments of his inspiring speech to the colony, the Joyous Exultations, and the subsequent incident that followed his boarding of the ship.

He was in the main deck when, "Admiral!" a sangheili minor shouted and burst forth from the sliding doors. The surrounding shipmasters eyed him and his blue harness with obvious disdain, but allowed him to speak.

"Who are you, young one, to barge in?" Xytan asked. He stepped down from a pedastal and stood in front of the minor, towering above him.

Though in awe, he shortly screamed, "There is no time!" All the sangheili in the room were startled by his volumed and turned their attention to him. "A foolish unggoy has come across a human nuclear device and it'll wipe out our entire fleet!"

Many gasped and clamored.

"And how do you know this?" asked the newly appointed Fleet Master, Voro 'Mantakree. "I thought we had agreed to mutual peace with these humans."

"I know their language! This bomb was snuck aboard before the Great Schism and the unggoy was toying with the damned thing as I passed by. I heard a voice from the device and itit w a warning! Any time now it will activate. Escape from the ship your eminence. I've prepared a-"

"Kanel! Activate the A.I.!" Xytan commanded a nearby sangheili and rushed up to the consoles.

Many of the ex-covenant were in disorder and confusion by the sudden warning, some of it contributed by Xytan's command. Artificial intelligence was decommissioned by their higher-ups out of fear of the Flood's corruption, but despite this, a few ship masters were already aware of the illegal entity and trusted Xytan. After his exile to the outer fringes of Covenant space he developed heretical traits, always questioning the 'Great Journey' with only his closest men and voicing his suspicions of their prophets' gods. An A.I. was but a fraction of his rebellious streak, and his men were utterly devoted to him.

None knew, though, that his hatred for mankind was but a facade to inspire his people. He was aware of the prophets' false promises, and he took advantage of them to control his zealots. He had little love for their absolute fanaticism, but their strength and skill were unmatched among his men.

"A.I. 374, 'Beta' has been activated," a new voice presented itself, heard clearly from the ship's very depths. "What do you need, Imperial Admiral?"

"A theoretical question Beta!" Xytan said, running to a panel and frantically clicking away at the holographic keys. "If an atomic bomb were to explode within the ship during slipspace, what would transpire? Quickly!"

"According to my extensive knowledge and the faces of many around you, something of that like has never occured. but theoretically, sir, you would be taking the explosion with you and into slipspace."

"We must do so quickly! There's no time to disarm the bomb."

"But Admiral, we will die!" a nearby shipmaster argued.

There was little time to talk and most arguments were made for personal survival. It was self-preservation that instinctively pervaded their minds, a feeling that was shared among all races. Xytan was above it and knew of the horrid results that would yield from possible explosion. His fleet would be devastated and the planet they hovered above could be razed. The fall of Prophets might never come to full fruition if this was to happen.

Xytan activated the ship's communications and screamed a very concise statement, "If any of you wish to escape I suggest you do so with haste! We have a bomb."

The ship rumbled with the rapid stampede of tens of thousands of aliens.

"Preparing for slipspace travel," the A.I. followed, its voice echoing throughout the entire ship.

"Before activation, close off every door!" Xytan shouted as he typed.

Many were outraged and all crowding through the doors and hallways to escape the vessel through all means possible. Only his loyal shipmasters stood with him, but the sudden situation had struck them with the force of a ramming cannon. None were prepared for this momentous threat. Xytan finally wrapped up what he was doing with the console rested his palms on the glass. He stayed standing there, sighing, and then, despite all the surrounding rampancy, calmly turned around to face his subordinates. Even in the face of calamity the great admiral remained unperturbed.

"I know you all fear the imminent disaster, but this is the best solution."

Most shipmasters were soothed by his untroubled voice and logic. He was correct and they knew it. They felt it. This was the best solution.

"And if we live through this!" he bellowed with an odd smile on his 4 mandibles. "We will become legends! And even if not! We will remain legends!" He raised his fist. "Our sacrifice will be remembered through the ages!"

His subordinates roared in approval and raised their fists. His heroic and tall figure inspired in them enough confidence to match pure religious zealotry. Their Admiral was a hero, a legend, and nothing less than a god in their eyes. His glistening silver armor, ornate with glowing golden forerunner glyphs and symbols, reflected through their eyes and glowed with heavenly light, brighter than anything they've ever seen.

"Closing doors," the A.I. informed, "And activating slipspace."

As a Sublime Transcendence slipped through the portal, there was still much commotion in a small, deserted part of the ship. Kwassass, the unggoy responsible with messing with the human bomb, was watching in shock as a group of Huragoks gathered around it. A few sparks from its panel drew his absolute attention and suddenly a voice came from the black box.

"This is the prototype Nova bomb, nine fusion warheads encased in lithium triteride armor. When detonated it compresses its fusionable material to neutron-star density, boosting the thermonuclear yield a hundredfold. I am Vice Admiral Danforth Whitcomb, temporarily in command of the UNSC military base Reach. To the Covenant uglies that might be listening, you have a few seconds to pray to your dammed heathen gods. You all have a nice day in hell."

Kwassass, in sudden realization of his tiny and meager understanding of the human word 'bomb', rushed towards it, waddling, and pushed past the Huragoks. He had to disable it.

But then it exploded as the ship entered slipspace... The outer edge of it was released from the wormhole.

"So what happened?" Xytan wondered

The Imperial Admiral sighed and slowly slipped back into his white pod.

"Wake me when needed, Beta," he said to the A.I.

"Command acknowledged, Admiral."


	2. Chapter 2

Y'all can skip this section if you want, but this explains a little of how Halo sometimes outclasses Mass Effect technology-wise.

I learned some math. Possibly the greatest dreadnought the ME galaxy has to offer is the Destiny Ascension, and it has the strongest MAC gun, shooting at a maximum momentum of 80,500,000 kgm (4,025,000m/s*20kg), but that doesn't hold a candle to the UNSC's, whose most standard MAC guns shoot with the momentum of 16,329,330,000 kgm (30,000m/s*544,311kg), and even then the UNSC has to take multiple shots to take down the Covenant shields. I doubt anything - except lasers hotter than their plasma, giant Reapers, and lots of EMP - can damage their shields. If anyone knows anything from the Mass Effect universe that could potentially fight the covenant besides the Reapers, tell me. I personally think Halo is ahead of Mass Effect technologically, but both went down different paths anyways. The UNSC could have had more laser and energy-based weapons to take down the Covenant, but they didn't. Why the hell did they not? I'll never understand.

Better fights would be:

Covenant vs Reapers

UNSC vs Protheans

Forerunners are simply beyond the Reapers, and their predecessors were the Precursors, who were basically rulers of the universe. Reapers only dealt with a galaxy.

And does anyone know what the hell Forerunner metal is made of?

Now on about Xytan himself. He weighs approximately 275kg at the height of 3.5 meters (above average ratio). A single Asari biotic (Liara for example) would struggle to even lift Xytan, for sangheili muscle is naturally very dense. Since his weight was never clear, I estimated above the average ratio. He would normally be 240 kg at his height but he's a legend so I added more. All of this also excludes the armor weighing him down. It's made of nanolaminate and it's much denser than Osmium, the most dense we have currently. Osmium is 2.295kg/m(cubed) so I estimated that nanolaminate is 4kg/m(cubed) He's 3.5 meters tall so the armor would be:

4kg/m(cubed)x3.5(h)x1(l)x1(w)= 14 kg

His armor and his weight combined are approximately 290 kg.

Yea he'd be a pain in the ass to lift. It took 3 powerful biotic users (shepard,liara,kaiden) to straining themselves to lift a Geth Colossus, and Xytan weighs a little more or less than a third of that thing. With his size he could probably even wrestle a damn Brute.

Quick maths. I'm trying to prove how he'll be somewhat resistant to biotics and I want to stay canon as possible. Mass Effect sourves really lack some of the science, measurements, and calculations.

* * *

Chapter 2

On board a spectre frigate in the Terminus System, a blue, tattooed turian sat in the front, guiding it to a mass relay to head back to Citadel space. He began to nap as the autopilot was switched on, leaning back on his cushy seat, until a loud siren suddenly shocked him back awake.

"Every damn time I try to get some shut-eye," he complained in a low voice and rubbed his eyes.

One of the Asari operators rushed to a panel and frantically scanned over it.

"We've picked up something in the radar!" she shouted. "And it's huge!"

"How big is it Donna?" another asari asked, looking over her shoulder.

"It's… over 16 kilometers."

All the spectres in the room turned their heads.

"Donna… you said 16 kilometers?"

"Yes ma'am…"

"Could be an small asteroid, don't mind it."

"No ma'am. According do its shape, it's a ship."

"Impossible!" a salarian cried. "Our largest dreadnoughts reach only a kilometer in length!"

Following a whole minute of commotion, all the crewmates agreed.

The salarian voiced their collective conclusion, "We must investigate this! And if it holds any significance, we must inform the council. It-" He paused hesitantly in mid-speech. "It could even be possible that… Shepard was right…"

"No! The Reapers are only a myth!" the Asari instantly objected. "That was a Geth trick. No armada of highly advanced beings are going to wipe out all existence. This is different. Speculate all you want, but we need to see it before we conclude anything. Raas, head to the unidentified vessel now."

"Roger that Silvia," the turian pilot answered.

"Vulen, prepare a talk with the council," she ordered the salarian.

"On it ma'am." The salarian immediately headed to the communications room.

The asari commander walked to the front, stood by Raas, and scrutinized the purple opalescent and flat head of the alleged vessel as it slowly drooled into view. It looked as if the tip of it was cut off and 10 km width of metal flesh was presented.

"What are you…?" she murmured with a tight frown.

In the Sublime Transcendence.

The hall was dark, empty, all except one small section. It was a large compartment, with sangheili language and runes glowing bright light, until it split open to reveal a pod within. Inside laid Xytan, his eyes closed.

"Admiral, awaken," a voice echoed and stirred him from sleep. The large sangheili slowly regained consciousness, his eyes fighting to open.

"Beta... is that you?" he asked weakly.

"Yes Admiral," the A.I. chirped.

"How long have we been drifting?" He yawns.

"8 years, 2 months, 4 days, 7 hours, 2 minutes, 7 seconds, and still counting."

"Thank you."

"Since the front half of the ship were mainly the living quarters, I'm happy to inform you that I've rebuilt the pinch fusion reactor to be more efficient and successfully powered this intact half of the ship with extra deuterium and tritium recovered from the water of some passing rocks and masses. These forerunner Constructors you've recovered are quite useful."

"You've… activated them? How? They only repair Forerunner constructs."

"Mostly by the Huragoks, Admiral, because of their extreme disrepair, and I hope you haven't forgotten how you reprogrammed me. Those little bots are nothing compared to me. And before anything else, I must tell you: I've added modifications to your combat harness."

"Modifications?"

The A.I. was pessimistic during his first sentence, "It was once a class 6 Forerunner combat harness, but your ill-bred Huragoks and incorrigible San'shyuum downgraded its capabilities tremendously with the added nanolaminate and tampering of Forerunner metal." Its voice became gleeful and fast. "So I've given all the surviving Huragoks my knowledge of Forerunner technology and they're finally able to manufacture acceptable products. Your harness has been modified, with mostly the same aesthetic as you had prior and your overall combat capabilities greatly improved. Its shields have been strengthened to its original forerunner form, and with it, you may also survive the vacuum of space. Strength, speed, agility, and the like, too, have been added to aid you in combat. It is similar to what the human 'Demon' wears."

If invisible A.I. could smile, he'd been grinning ear to ear.

A.I. 374 was once a Monitor of one of the rings. His name, Beta was kept. Xytan, with all his curiosity and keen interest in technology, had the Forerunner A.I. extracted from its spherical construct, and he somehow altered a main part of its programming to serve him. With it came the expansive and enlightening knowledge of the Forerunners, their technology, human Reclaimers, and the true reasons for the Rings' existence.

"Thank you… Beta. That was interesting."

"It was a pleasure Admiral, and if you'd like, I am also knowledgeable on some prototype sangheili augmentations. The forerunners were very interested in your race. The sangheili were those of honor, duty, nobility, martial pro-"

"Ah… no need." Xytan smiled at his virtual companion's quirks. "What is the situation?"

"I was nearing that, Admiral. Presently we are floating in strange and unknown space. Ever since you went to cryostasis I took it upon myself to study our surroundings. Oddly, I didn't recognize any of the stars or systems around us. At every angle and perception, they are all different from before."

"Wherever we are, we aren't where we were before," Xytan said.

"That… is a logical conclusion."

The Admiral felt a twinge of pain in his heart. Would he ever see Sanghelios again? The Wattinree would be lost without him. He was floating away in deep, unknown space, with little chance to return home, or even to his galaxy.

"How could slipspace jump us this far?" he asked. "To the point that even the stars aren't recognizable?"

"Forgive me, I am… unknowledgeable on the subject. Perhaps the atomic explosion contributed to our extended travel?" Beta was unsure.

"Perhaps, Beta. Perhaps."

The sangheili legend groaned and stretched out his limbs as best he could in his chamber.

Unaccustomed to the cramped space, he asked, "Beta, is there life support in the room? I do not wish to rise to vacuum."

"Yes Admiral. When all the doors were shut this part of the ship was able to retain its air."

"And… did you say 'Huragok'? Those creatures survived?"

"Yes."

"What of the shipmasters? Did they too survive."

"No Admiral. My condolences. I could only cut off their life support one by one for your preservation; our power was limited at the time, but believe me, those were the last choices I made for every one of them."

Xytan fell back, hit with a massive blow he had never felt since his exile. This was all caused by an accident, a grunt with a bomb. He mentally cursed in his depression. He cursed the san'shyuum for their falsehood, the humans for their tenacity, the jiralhanae for their existence, and finally that damned unggoy grunt for activating a bomb. He once thought that he could rely on those little fools, but they disappointed him almost every time. Never would he trust a foolish dwarf.

But in a place where he had none, what purpose did he serve? If he could never return, what purpose did he serve? And if there was nothing, what purpose was there? He felt inclined to simply lay back and die then and there. No longer was he an admiral, but an alien in the midst of nowhere.

"Apologies, Admiral, for-"

"Call me Xytan, for no longer do I hold rank."

"Yes… Xytan…"

Both A.I. and sangheili were painfully silent.

"Wait!" Beta called.

"What is i-"

"It's a ship! A vessel is heading our way now!"

"A ship? Is it human? Covenant?"

"Neither, Xytan."

"Forerunner?"

"No."

"Then what could it be?"

"I do not know, but you must gather your armor and weapons before they board."

The pod then finally opened, strings of white, thin smoke releasing into old, stale air, and a large, naked sangheili stepped out. It was his room, the Imperial Admiral's quarters. It was simple, modest, albeit large. He needed only a bed and a closet. Recovering from the cryostasis, he staggered past his bed and placed his 4 fingers in a small slot on the wall. The wall opened up, revealing all his special, shining armaments, basking under holy light.

His armor and helmet looked the same as before, glistening with silver and lined with forerunner symbols of luminescent gold. The headdress on his helmet was large, ornamental, and elegant. All of his equipment were meant to add to his charisma and legend, but they were practical of course, very much better than any sangheili armor, and after the ex-Monitor's upgrade they became even better.

Xytan put on his tight black bodysuit and donned his regal armor over it. The feeling of his helmet weighing on his head appeased him and as he picked up his energy sword, he began to daydream about this old days.

He remembered the deadly spars over the river, the sensation of swords clashing on impact, and the fresh smell of a jiralhanae's sizzling flesh

He activated the sword and reveled in seeing the golden celestial glow of it yet again, but there was sudden distant, clang; rapid successions of loud thumps could be heard and then they ceased. He sheathed his sword immediately and grabbed a couple weapons from his arsenal.

"I will now go silent until diplomacy or anything pertaining to that situation has been reached," Beta stated.

Xytan quietly nodded, not knowing whether the A.I. could see him or not.

A carbine was unneeded in this enclosed space so he placed an energy sword and two plasma rifles on his hips. After carefully listening for footsteps at the door, he pressed his hand on the panel, opening it up, and left the room with his violet cloth trailing after him.

Infiltrating the Mysterious Ship

"What is this ship?" Silvia asked. "This isn't anything I've ever seen before."

"It's reminiscent of Geth, but the architecture is so organic. These symbols too, they're unknown language. I'm not even detecting any Element Zero on this ship, it's completely void of it," Donna replied.

"A ship without element zero of this size, with unknown metals, and foreign construct? This is just… unbelievable," Donna said, awed by the high, ceilings and elegant curves of the vessel's architecture.

"What's unbelievable is that this ship might had been able to travel without the need for the mass relays."

"Unbelievable," Raas' promptly spoke up in their comms.

The party continued to walk down the hallways. The place seemed like a tomb, all hollow, empty, and dead.

"Wait." Donna held her hand up. "I'm detecting some movement up ahead."

"Alright, wedge formation Spectres, and ready your weapons. We don't know whether it's friend or foe," Silvia ordered.

The group formed up and slowly moved forward in unison, training their weapons everywhere and curiously pointing their lights at strange objects. Donna, with her light trained straight ahead, discerned something down the hallway. It was walking down another hall crossing perpendicularly with their's, but she could only see its side. Its silver glow and reverse-jointed legs were very eye-catching, along with its tall figure, so she could only infer that it was Geth, and perhaps even a Prime, but the head ornament was strange.

"I see something! It looks Geth!"

The geth-like figure then twisted its head to look at them and everyone took aim.

"Wait! Don't fire!" Donna cried. "It's not Geth…"

The figure remained frozen, unmoving, except for its subtle breathing.

"It's either a Geth or a very tall Quarian, Donna, so which is it?" Silva questioned.

Donna remained staring at the strange creature as they neared it. "Neither," she replied breathlessly.

Everyone was shocked as the tall creature turned towards them, its muscular form in full, frontal display.

"It's… at least 3 and a half meters tall…" she murmured as it stood in front of them

It wore pearlescent silver armor with golden intricacies seemingly woven into mysterious glyphs and symbols, with a helmet, purple cape, and a large headdress. It was a completely alien being; leathery skin could be seen on its face, along with glacial blue eyes with reptilian slit pupils, 4 split mandibles, and numerous rows of teeth. The creature seemed noble though, kingly even, despite its outlandish appearance, and it possessed a very powerful presence that put some pressure in the atmosphere.

"Anyone recognize what that is?" Donna asked in a low, awkward voice.

Everyone around her frowned, as she was usually the person who answered those types of questions.

Only Silvia had the courage to talk to it, "Do you… speak?"

The alien before them stared at them all, one by one, its gaze penetrating, striking their nerves, and then turned its eyes back to Silvia.

"Yes…" it spoke, its voice deep, distinct.

Its answer only further bewildered them. The creature spoke, contrary to their expectations.

"English? Strange. You speak the human language. Are you related to them?" Donna asked.

"No," it answered.

The following quietness was unbearable for both parties.

"Perhaps it holds some sort of telepathy. That could explain its ability to speak to us," one squad-member speculated.

"And whatever it is, it's not element zero," Donna added.

"... I mean no harm," the tall alien said.

The tense hands they held onto their weapons with didn't ease from his words.

"So what are you?" she asked, her voice trembling less than before.

"Sangheili."

"Sangheili? I've never heard of that before." Donna pulled out her omnitool and typed away. "And that's not in our codex!" she announced frantically. "Nor our databases! Have we just stumbled upon a-"

"- new alien race," Silvia cut in.

The squad was silent for a moment, every one of them pondering on what the next course of action should be.

"Should we take him in?"

"The Council needs to learn of this new species."

"It's so fucking tall!" Raas exclaimed in disbelief. He was leaning forward staring at a screen.

"You seeing this? Raas?" Silvia asked, her voice angrily strained by his horrible entrance through the communications.

"Yeah, of course. Your helmets have cameras."

"If it pulls anything you guys got two bad-ass asari commandos," a different Spectre expressed through the comms.

"We should be able to constrain it with our biotics," Donna said.

"Yeah, but I'd rather bring him in peacefully. It looks as strong as a krogan."

"Agreed."

"Hey, you understand what I'm saying, right?" Silvia asked the alien. She was the closest to it and bravely took the lead.

"Mostly."

She felt more comfortable as she spoke, "And what's your name?"

"Xytan 'Jar Wattinree."

The Spectres were caught off guard by its utterly foreign name, and they were having trouble pronouncing it.

"Xiton…?"

"...Xytan?"

"Watinee?"

"We'll just call you Xytan," she said.

The alien nodded softly.

"Is this your ship, Xytan?"

It nodded.

"Listen then, Xytan, we need to bring you back to the Citadel to meet the Council."

It narrowed its eyes at her and voiced boldly, "Explain."

Silvia could feel some sweat forming on her skin. She was glad she had her helmet on or else her it would had shown.

"You're a new, unknown being no one has ever seen before. The Council simply has to know."

"What is… the Council?" it asked.

"The governing body of the galaxy." She placed her gun on her back. "So would you come with us?" She wanted to pacify the creature and show it she meant to no harm.

It looked at her with blank eyes for a minute, seemingly thinking, but then answered, "No."

Force was obviously her last resort and she was about ready to resort to it.

"You need to come with us," she insisted and stepped closer.

The alien gave them all an eyeful, attempting to determine their levels of threat. Silvia was petrified by its gaze and stood where she was.

"I would suggest you not do that," a new, mysterious voice spoke from their surroundings.

All the Spectres immediately pulled their guns up and looked around.

"Who is that?" Silvia asked, her voice loud and threatening. "Where are you?"

"Oh, apologies, I do not possess a physical form. I am Beta."

"Beta then. So what are you?"

"An A.I. of course."

The squad of Spectres were suddenly much more vigilant and the grips on their weapons tightened.

"I mean no harm to you ma'am; I only ask that you leave my Admiral alone."

"Admiral…?"

The sangheili grunted in disapproval and abruptly spoke out to it in an alien language.

Beta was despondent in his reply, "Oh, apologies Xytan. I only wished to see you remain free from their capture."

Xytan spoke again in its strange language. "'I' am making the situation worse? To be candid, I think I'm much more charming than a 3 and a half meter tall alien."

The large sangheili growled.

"We need to bring it to the Council," Silvia declared. "A species like this has never been seen before and must be brung to them."

"'It'? He is male."

"We need to bring him to the Council then."

"Surely you can let him off," he implored.

"No." She sighed. "I can't, sorry."

"Then I'm afraid conflict shall ensue."

Xytan body tensed and he took stance for combat.

Silvia was resigned to this situation, shutting her eyes for a moment, and without warning, pulled her hands up at the sangheili and clenched them. He didn't know how to respond or what to expect until a giant mass of bluish aura surrounded her. Xytan's eyes widened towards this display of power and he took a wide step back, but before he could even think about escaping, the azure wisps were cast and seized him. His arms and legs became restrained by an uncanny power and his mind was struck with utter confusion. Silvia's brows knitted together as she found out that he was much more difficult than she expected.

"Donna, help me. He's a bit heavy."

"On it ma'am."

Donna also pooled in her biotics to grasp the sangheili alien and they were finally able to progress. They continued to pull on him and forced him a few steps forward, but the sangheili roared in anger at this involuntary movement, all four of his mandibles lashing out violently, frightening them. He stopped on his tracks, stomping his foot down on the floor, and began to resist and pull back. The two asari commandos were unexpectedly met with a tugging battle, and they were losing. The two other Spectres were unable to interfere because it was a biotic battle, so they simply stood back and watched amusingly. But soon, the two asari commandos became overcome with mental exhaustion and could only release their hold on him. They grasped their knees to avoid collapse and wheezed. The two Spectres behind them were baffled for a moment, stunned by the monster's strength, and quickly stepped in front. They leveled their guns at the creature as he began rushing towards them and gunfire commenced.

He became a blur of light as their shots landed.

"Is that a kinetic barrier? Biotic? Why don't these damned guns work?!"

"I don't know, but the thing's fa-"

Xytan swiped one at the chin with a light punch and he knocked the other's head into the wall, effectively rendering them both unconscious in an instant. Their whole party was decommissioned.

Xytan recognized Silvia as their leader and pushed her up against the wall. He traced his fingers across her helmet in wonder and interest.

"What… are you going to do with us?" Silvia asked between heaving breaths.

"Imprisonment. I'm intrigued," he confessed.

Xytan casually grasped her helmet and carefully removed it. His 4 mandibles spread wide open in astonishment.


	3. Chapter 3

I was hoping someone would notice, but… about the front half of the ship's gone from the explosion. All they have left are the hangars, plasma/pulse turrets, the energy projector, repulsor engines, and about 3 quarters of the bridge. That's why I said it was 16 kilometers, because the CSO-class Supercarrier (Sublime Transcendence) is around 29 kilometers long. I'll try to edit some of this in the previous chapters so people get the point when they read. God there's so little info to go by. I'm guessing the ships have multiple hangars, big and small.

Note: Spartan II's are on par with the average sangheili in canon, so how fast are sangheili? I never understood. Master Chief is an exception from this because he's an absolute badass of course, and sangheili get mowed down because, with their fanatical attitude towards honor and stuff, they are basically fucking samurai trying to charge at rows of muskets. Their biggest quality is their biggest weakness.

By the way, look at this math if you can,

en-us/forums/db05ce78845f4120b062c50816008e5d/topics/some-calcs-for-spartans-brutes-jiralhanae/a5804834-c71c-4048-8edb-7440c0c81d79/posts

I changed my calculations, because these seem much more realistic.

102inches/554lb(ratio of an 8"6 sangheili) = 138inches/750lb(11"6 sangheili)

750lb = 350kg

He is 350kg

BUT WAIT! THERE'S 1.4 GRAVITY SO SANGHEILI TISSUE IS 1.4 MORE DENSE THAN HUMANS WHICH MEANS I HAVE TO MULTIPLY! 350*1.4=490

And I'll add 5 cuz why not.

So he's 495kg now (1100lb) holy shit.

* * *

Chapter 3

Her skin was light blue and her head and nape had strange tentacle-like cartilage appendages stretching back to her scalp. Xytan realized she wasn't human. The large sangheili was squatting in front of the prison cell, studying all its occupants. Two were blue women and the other two were… lizard-like bipedal frogs, whose eyes were the size of bowls. These alien amphibians had slim, lithe, figures, similar to young san'shyuum, but much more uglier to Xytan's distaste. The blue females were strange to him though. He felt an otherworldly attraction to them although they looked human. He rarely had any contact with humans, and never females. These two were the closest he'd ever saw.

"Once you're finished ogling the females, we must deal with another problem," Beta intruded.

Xytan tore his eyes off of them, snarling, and asserted, "Utter foolishness, Beta. I am sangheili. I hold no attraction to these aliens."

"Mm."

"What is the problem then? The ones who back these 'Spectres'?" Xytan asked

"Yes, and they're much more than you think they are. I've delved into their omni-tools and their databases to discover that the Council truly do hold governing powers over the galaxy. If we get our ship up and running I might be able to infiltrate the network and learn more."

"So they were telling the truth." Xytan grasped his forehead and groaned in regret. "More problems," he bemoaned.

"Yes Xytan. More problems!" the A.I. spoke with cheer.

He only annoyed him further and the tall sangheili punched the wall. "Do you indulge in my torture?"

"No! Of course not," Beta denied profusely. "I'm simply glad you have purpose now."

The sangheili's heart warmed at his words and his fists unraveled. "Yes… reason for my continued existence."

He suddenly frowned. "What did that blue woman do?"

"Sorry?"

"The blue energy, the one that took control of me and restrained my movement."

"Oh, that. Frankly, I don't know Xytan, and according to that it seems not even the Forerunners knew."

"Helpful." He crossed his arms.

"Don't be so glum. I'll take priority in researching it. Anyhow, they will soon send in another squad because as I recall, those helmets have cameras."

"Hmm. They have done me no harm and only follow protocol. I have no desire to slaughter the weak nor for things to escalate."

"May I suggest a course of action?"

"Go ahead."

"It might inflate into an all-out war with the Council if you were to resist, but this technology must not be given to them. The constructors have been working on a slipspace drive with scarce resources ever since you went into cryostasis. If we were to rush the progress at this point, we would be able to travel to some undiscovered system and plan from there."

"How long will the slipspace drive take?"

"A few days at most, but be mindful; it will be crude and unstable."

"We have no choice."

"I will invest all the huragoks and constructors into this endeavor."

"And I'll find a way to delay them," Xytan said, standing up. "They won't send a whole fleet to intercept me."

Xytan marched to and fro in front of the cell until Silvia managed to wake up. Following a minute of panic and frantically looking around, she relaxed, but began eyeing him viciously when he landed in her sights, like a caged tiger. She remained still, silent, waiting. For something as small and frail as her, he was unnerved by her constant stare.

"Xytan," Beta spoke. "The Spectres' vessel has retreated."

"Good news."

"Not entirely," The A.I. said. "They might come back with many more."

"Disconcerting, Beta. How should we handle them?"

"From what I heard in their ship's communications, they're hiring mercenaries."

"Communications? How did you infiltrate them?"

"A simple matter, really, you shouldn't concern yourself over it."

"You continue to baffle me at every turn," Xytan said.

"And rightly so, sir."

"Since they're mercenaries I will exterminate them, for their deaths are without consequence. The Spectres, I must either capture or escape from."

Xytan rubbed his fingers together, thinking about how should he last for three days.

"They'll come back for us," said Silvia, despite not understanding their foreign talk. "And they'll capture you."

"I'm afraid they won't," Xytan replied and grinned. "Because I'm up for the challenge."

Her mouth gaped open in disbelief, and then she glowered. "If you hurt them, I will kill you," she stated coldly.

"Have some peace, woman, I won't kill them."

"Woman!? I am not a woman!"

"Oh? Then what are you?"

"Asari!" She lashed out violently and lunged a quick blue string of energy him.

He was taken aback, but the biotic burst only slapped his shoulder and dissipated, doing nothing.

She stared, wide-eyed. "Impossible…" she murmured, her stiff shoulders falling limp in defeat.

"What was that?" he asked curiously and stepped towards the cell. "How can you do that?"

She became tame, unexpectedly, and the shining light of hope faded from her eyes. "Biotics. I was born with it."

"How does it work?" He leaned towards her with overwhelming curiosity glinting in his glacial blue eyes.

"We use dark energy to create mass effect fields and manipulate gravity."

"Extraordinary. I wish I could wield this power," he spoke in sangheili and backed off.

"Beta, do we still have our armaments in the hangar?"

"Yes, but most of the Seraphs and Phantoms are gone."

He traced his finger along the wall. "Could we possibly rebuild this ship?"

"Yes, and without the restrictions of false religion, we will improve upon it."

"Excellent." Xytan headed to the hangars.

On the Spectre Ship

"So what the fucking hell are we going to do!?" Raas screamed, slamming his fist unto the table.

Vulen glared at him. "Calm down Raas. We might just send you in there alone," he said.

"Then let me you sliced tuna! I'll take down that shithead myself!"

"You're our only pilot; you can't die."

"Don't you have training?"

"Very little."

"Then we should all go innn…" The turian's voiced drooled on his last syllable and he dropped onto the cold, metal floor unconscious. An asari stood above him, blue light swirling about her hands.

"Great, we don't have a pilot now," one turian said.

"And we would have to get a replacement if he charged in there like a fool," the asari replied, glancing back at him.

"Shanda," Vulen called. She turned to him in regard. "This sangheili is dangerous. We don't know the extent of his abilities, but he could resist the biotic pull of two asari commandos and knock out two salarian Spectres with ease."

"Are you saying we're not fit for this operation?" she asked, her brows furrowing.

"Yes." He didn't flinch.

She stared, expecting elaboration.

"He can resist your biotics, and we don't have any other biotics besides you and Raas, whom you've just knocked out."

"Knowing him he would had strained himself with his implants."

"Agreed. His emotions became unstable when Silvia was captured."

"Lovestruck idiot." Shanda sat down and rested her chin on her palm. "What should we do?"

"Hire mercenaries."

She stood up, knocking her chair back. "Mercenaries? Us?"

"We are in the Terminus System. There should be many here and Omega's a good start."

"And why not ask the Council?"

"They'll be disappointed by our inability to capture the alien and they have no jurisdiction in this space."

"But the discovery of a new species should be vital enough for them to come or send more Spectres."

"To replace us."

"So we place our trust in mercenaries?" a turian asked.

"Our only alternative, Malen. Krogans might be able to combat him."

"Let's go then, to Omega." She paused. "Who's going to pilot the ship."

"I will," Vulen declared immediately, walking out of the meeting room. "I have some training."

"Going to be a hell of a ride..." She followed him out.

"Definitely," Malen voiced. He remained in the room as they left and continued to sift through footage of the alien attacking his fellow Spectres.

Vulen slumped down on the comfy pilot seat and he set the ship forth. Passing by a few planets, moons, and suns, they soon reached the Titan Nebula's mass relay, a magnificent device 15 kilometers in length with a giant, glowing blue eye. Sailing besides it, they jumped and entered the Omega Nebula. The ship cruised along and a giant, red mushroom shaped space station slowly grew and magnified to view. It was Omega, a haven to every terrorist, criminal, and reject.

"Ah, a sore sight for sore eyes," Shanda joked.

"We should bombard and erase this blight of the galaxy," said Malen from the meeting room.

Vulen flew the ship to Omega and docked in one of the lower slots. Shanda and Vulen began stepping out onto the platform.

"Ah damn, the stench of pollution," Malen complained, peeking his head out from the ship and covering his nostrils. He quickly went back inside and closed the shuttle doors. "You guys can go. I hate this shithole," he spoke over communications.

"And the smell of vorcha shit and batarian oils," Shanda added. "The volus should be glad they can't smell; it's a curse."

Omega in its entirety held a shade of deep, hellish crimson, mixed with a myriad of other lights and colors. Everywhere they looked, there was something to look at. Vulen himself was silent, intelligently examining his surroundings.

"We should hire the Blood Pack," he said.

"The Blood Pack?" Shanda's face contorted more in disgust. "I'd rather deal with the Blue Suns or Eclipse."

"It's logical. We meet brute force with even more brutal force," the salarian explained.

"How do we seek them out then?" she asked.

"Their headquarters, of course."

She raised a brow, "You know where they are?"

"I've dealt with them on many occasions."

"A salarian like you? They would have eaten you alive."

"They tried."

The Spectre duo traveled, passing by many oddballs, freaks, and villains, until they finally met with a krogan clad in black and blood red armor, standing around socializing with his friends. Krogans were tall and huge reptilian beings. They had wide-set eyes, large humps for backs, and very muscular figures. Though disdainful of the two at first, he recognized Vulen and they talked. The party was finally allowed unto a platform speeder and led to the Blood Pack's H.Q. At the entrance they were met with a red flag, and its symbol was a white fist punching into the top half of a white skull.

"Never knew vorcha could get more feral than they already were," Shanda remarked as she looked around. A nearby vorcha scowled at her menacingly.

Many of them were skittering around like giant rat savages they were and some were sitting or standing around in groups. These goblins were swift, strong, adaptive, and the Blood Pack only made them all the more vicious. A taller Krogan, with massive, intimidating obsidian cylinders on his shoulders, stomped out from the entrance to meet them.

"Vulen?" he laughed. "I haven't seen you since I took lead over the Blood Pack."

"Hello, Garm," Vulen greeted him.

"I owe you one don't I?" Garm asked as he and Vulen shook hands. Shanda gave him a suspicious look.

"I'm calling in that favor now," Vulen replied.

"Ho! Then let's get right to it." The krogan was enthusiastic.

"I need you to handle something." The salarian remained stoic throughout the exchange.

"Handle? We can guard, kill, or capture anything. We're the real muscle."

"Then come, bring as many men as you can, at least fifty, then we ma-"

"Fifty? What kind of monster are you guys fighting?"

"A strong one."

"Thresher maw?"

"No."

"Rachni?"

"No."

"What is it then?"

"A new alien. Bipedal. Tall. Strong. We don't know what exactly it is but we need your expertise."

"A new alien, eh? We can handle one bastard."

"Outstanding." Vulen turned towards the opposite direction. "Get your ships and we'll guide you to it."

"You lead, we follow."

The Spectres headed back to their ships with the Blood Pack in tow.

On the Sublime Transcendence

"Xytan!" Beta yelled in alarm. "4 ships are heading towards us right now! One of them is from before, but the other 3 are different, smaller!"

Xytan growled briefly and rushed to grab a beam rifle.

"The 3 ships are going to enter the hangar 38 in 20 minutes!"

Without a second thought he hauled his legs towards the direction of the 38th hangar. He couldn't predict which one they'd go to so he took position in the centermost, hangar 127. The burst of speed he achieved was something never thought was possible, but the feeling of splitting air brushing past his skin exhiliterated him. His armor enhancements were amazing. Compared to his highest speed of 50 kilometers per hour, he was reaching at least 65. Soon he reached the hangar just when the dropships drifted in and he ducked behind cover. Xytan silently peaked over and watched as they landed one by one. His heart pumped excitedly. It had been so long since he fought with these odds. He remembered slaying a jiralhanae war chieftain and dealing with the his surrounding subordinates soon after. Those barbaric primates were strong and he was left with many scars after that massacre.

The doors to the shuttles hissed open and with slight delay, many armored aliens marched out, consisting of larger, bulkier, 2 meter tall reptilian bipeds - krogans - and smaller, feral-looking beings he didn't know of, similar to jackals. One thing they all had in common was the red and black theme they decorated all over their armaments. The most noticeable alien stepped out. He was a bulkier krogan, taller than the others, and he looked more rough, rugged, possibly older, with cannons protruding from his shoulders; he looked like the leader of the pack.

Xytan quickly placed the large alien in his beam rifle's sights, and following some adjustments to his aim, he pulled the trigger. The accelerated ionized particles from the beam rifle passed through the kinetic barrier and pierced straight through his head. The large krogan dropped on the floor, slumped, dead, and the wound from the shot was visibly 15 millimeters in diameter. Only a little bead of blood dripped from the hole. The alien's life was ended in an instant.

"Garm is down!" one of the krogan shouted. "There's a sniper!"

All enemy soldiers took cover.

"What! Already!? I didn't even hear the shot!"

"It went right through his head!"

Xytan took another shot.

"Another's down!"

"It's a fucking massacre!"

One after another, he took down enemy after enemy, even those behind cover. His beam rifle pierced through about everything. After several more shots though, his weapon's charge was depleted and he could only throw it away.

"Behind the crates! I saw him! 2nd and 3rd company can flank him from the side!"

Xytan pulled out his 2 plasma rifles in both hands and laid his back flat against wall, next to a cornerstone. Before long he heard the rhythmic steps of his enemies and he peaked his body over to test his weapons against them. The blotchy noise of plasma blasting away and slamming into his foes delighted him and he quickly grew confident. The large sangheili boldly stepped out from his cover with his figure in full view and rained azure plasma upon his opponents. It burned through their kinetic shields and armor, and their numbers shrunk by the second, but as a result from his poorly controlled rapid fire, his plasma rifles ceased and began to vent extremely high temperatures.

He threw them aside and unveiled his energy sword with a roar through his widespread mandibles. He activated it with the satisfying flick and golden light enveloped his epic figure. He charged at the mercenaries, yelling his sangheili battlecries in ecstacy, and tore through their ranks. Their weapons did nothing to him, simply being deflected or absorbed by his shields, and they had no way to stop him on his warpath. He decapitated many vorcha and krogans, bisected them, sliced them clean in unrecognizable parts and halves. Corpses, limbs, and leftovers littered the hall. Smell of cooked flesh filled the air and blood decorated the floors and walls. His battle was concluded as he stabbed his sword into the last krogan and lifted it up into the air with ease. The krogan was still in a fit of blood rage and was fighting to his last breath, but Xytan slammed it unto the ground and stomped on its head. After a loud crunch, the creature twitched like a roach and became limp.

As the battle ended, Xytan's adrenaline and feverishness swiftly faded away, and he promptly felt a sense of emptiness he couldn't shake off. In all his body, heart, and soul, he was missing something, and this slaughter was a piece that didn't fit the puzzle. He deactivated his energy sword with a tight frown and turned around to see his makings unflinchingly.

Blank-faced, he ordered, "Beta, have this cleaned up."

"Acknowledged."

He strolled off. "I'm going on a little mission…" he said in a low voice.


	4. Chapter 4

Random thoughts and notes:

Sangheili are vastly more intelligence, stronger, faster, and overall better than humans. Their arrogance, strict rules, and codes of honor are their downfall.

Spartans seemed to be made to combat Sangheili and, in a way, antagonize them.

A jiralhanae can be taken out of the picture because it could flip a fucking tank and toss it around like a toy if it wanted to so they're canonically op asf.

Anyone remember Thel 'Vadam? He's a sangheili with the same shields as a low ranked minor elite, and is still capable of the same things Master Chief can do when you play the game (ALL WITH 2 FINGERS AND 2 THUMBS). That is game logic, and game logic like that should matter zilch in canon because plasma rifles should be killing your marines in 3 shots and flipping scorpion tanks shouldn't even be possible. Chief can't ACTUALLY do that on whim, and only with tremendous effort would he be able to.

Halo universe is full of holes and contradictions.

threads/covenant-capability-thread-halo.366142/page-33

We got 2 sangheili here deflecting "25 rounds per second".

"Elites would have 0.23 seconds to react to the first plasma pistol bolt."

"0.07 seconds to react to the first of the 'needles'."

Some "jedi-tier shit".

Yea, that's canon, I'm sure.

Lot more stuff after that. It all varies way too much. Sometimes I wonder if the writers even cared about continuity. In Halo Wars 2 one jiralhanae chieftain manhandled 3 Spartan II's with ease (John's a Spartan II too, no different from the others except for the fact that he is the Chief) In my personal opinion, people underestimate Sangheili and overestimate the Spartans.

Anyone know how the hell Mass Effect ships work with breaches and space vacuum? I'm just making up a lot of stuff as I go. I honestly wish the Mass Effect universe had more to go with, but I guess that just lets writers like me to fill the holes.

Btw, don't underestimate the Mass Effect universe for this. Their guns are pretty advanced. They use mini-MAC guns, which are virtually all their guns. Their ammo's effectively endless because they use dense metal shavings and their guns are basically like the UNSC's infantry weapons. Probably even better.

Reapers use lasers right? Covenant shields are weak against hot stuff like that.

Nanolaminate is, by the way, the same thing used in Gundam as paint for a layer of armor. Focking paint can deflect bullets and survive artillery.

How the hell do sangheili cook their food? What do they survive on when they're living on ships? I'm pretty sure water bottles are perfect for the sangheili with their squid holes for mouths.

I could never understand how strong biotics were in Mass Effect. I need some measurements of power, not displays.

Halo shields are much more effective than Mass Effect's because their shields are literally built to block the smallest particle. One can survive entering orbit with them bruh.

Oops, maybe I should move this fiction because it might rate as MA. I forgot how much I'm into detailing the violence(even if small). Slicing aliens apart seems a bit borderline and I might amp it up a little.

Happy New Years, guys.

* * *

Chapter 4

"Vulen! Look! One of the Blood Pack dropships are returning," Malen said.

"Already? They've only just entered the vessel," Vulen remarked, scratching his chin. He watched as the red dropship Garm boarded neared them and then his hand froze. "Train our guns on it." His eye twitched. He didn't want to believe it. How could that creature possibly had slaughtered them all in such little time?

"What? But wh-"

"Just shoot the damn thing!" the salarian bellowed, firmly gripping Malen's chair. His panic was completely out of character.

Malen's mouth gaped open for a moment towards Vulen, whose attitude came unexpectedly. "Copy that Commander Salamander," he responded wryly and began operating the ship's weaponry. "Firing the Mass Accelerator Cannon."

The cannon fired with a loud, muffled boom, and the dropship was instantaneously obliterated. Vulen remained vigilant as he scanned the debris until all that seemed to be left were bits and pieces. His shoulders relaxed.

"If we were going to betray them anyways you cou-"

A loud, sudden, thump above them interrupted Malen.

"What the hell was that?" he asked, his voice light and jittery.

Vulen was quiet, like a prey watching its predator pass by, as it was preceded by many more thuds and bangs, leading all the way to their airlock, and stopped.

"Warning: Airlock breached," the alarm sounded.

Emergency red lights all illuminated everywhere at once and the whole crew took out their weapons, their actions all in sync. Vulen stood by many of his Spectre-in-arms and took aim at the ship's doors, their expressions stoic, unyielding, disciplined, but highly unaware of the dangers. Their whole crew only consisted of 5 Spectres, excluding the 4 captured. It was rare, however, that 9 Spectres were working together on a single ship. The Council usually sent out their crusaders alone and rarely were they in duos or trios. They were certainly on an important mission prior to meeting the sangheili, one that was thoroughly classified and wrapped up.

A flash of golden light appeared at the door and everyone tensed. There appeared two sharp-edged tips of glowing gold jutting out from the metal.

"Warning: Ship Interior Breached. Airlock Emergency Shutters activated."

The gold quickly drew around to create a circle in the metal and it was kicked open. Everyone saved their shots for the tall, menacing figure clad in silver and ducking as it entered the ship. It was Xytan, the alien the Blood Pack was supposed to handle. As both his feet stomped unto the ships metal, he stood up straight in full height, and all the Spectres' weapons erupted with fire. All the mass accelerated projectiles from their weapons smacked into his shields, causing the giant to become a blinding blur of white and blue-streaked shields. In what felt like an eternity, their weapons eventually overheated and all was silent for a moment as the sangheili remained standing where he was, still, watching them. His mask quickly retracted like shutters, revealing his 4-mandibled-mouth and piercing blue eyes.

He began to speak in his deep, rich, guttural voice, "Greetings, Spectres." He deactivated his celestial energy sword and placed it on his hip. "I have come to incapacitate you and capture this ship."

In the Sublime Transcendence

Silvia and her squad were sitting together inside a prison cell, currently devising a plan to escape. The two salarians were being salarians, examining the metal bars and studying the ship in silence. They were exceptionally curious of the ingredients made to cook up this place.

"I can't use biotics," said Silvia. "That Xytan strained my powers and it'll take at least a day for me to recover."

"Me too," Donna added. "How could he be so resistant to it?" Despite all her knowledge and studies in science, this alien was something completely unheard of.

"A monster is what he is." Silvia's hands curled up in spite. "When I cast my biotics at him it felt like I was getting drained. He absorbed the dark energy! Nullified it! Negated it! His existence is like black hole!"

"I felt it too. An existence like him… he's a threat."

"Layn, Thorn, what do you think?" Silvia asked the 2 salarians.

Thorn, the yellow one, knocked on the metal wall with his knuckle. "This metal is strong and dense," he said. He wanted to study this ship if he could. Taking a sample from the metal seemed impossible because it was practically unbreakable.

"And these bars too, they're built much stronger. We're trapped indefinitely," Layn added. He pulled up his omni-tools. "But we can still use our omni-tools."

Layn and Thorn looked exactly the same and the only distinguishment that could be made between them was their skin colors. Layn was grey. Thorn was yellow.

"We don't exactly have any use for them right now," Donna said.

"But we do," Layn replied. "I have an omni-blade installed on mine."

"I thought no one used those."

Layn lifted his hand up and almost instantly, a large, orange dagger formed on the hologram of his omni-tool. "Nope. I do." He specialized in assassination, and most of the time a nice good stab was better because kinetic shields didn't block melee.

He waved it around, brandishing it, then took a few good steps back from the door, all the way to the back wall.

"You can slice through that?" Silvia asked. She sat up to a comfortable position to take a good view of the action.

"Don't know yet. It'll be a test." He lunged forward with his blade at hand and swiped at the metal bars. Bits and pieces of glass-like orange shattered from the impact the blade made as it made contact with a bar and dissipated in all its entirety. His experiment failed. The metal was still as intact as it always was before.

"Disappointing. Should I retry?" He reactivated his omni-blade.

"Don't bother," Thorn said, pressing Layn's arm down. It was a hopeless endeavor.

Silvia slid back in defeat and began staring at the ceiling in ponder. There was no way they could get off this ship. Everyone else followed, slumping back to their original positions in hopelessness.

"Why didn't he just kill us?" Silvia asked.

"Unknown. Perhaps he was being cautious," Thorn answered.

"And awfully curious."

The salarian eyed her, intrigued.

"He pulled my helmet off and examined me like he had never seen an asari before." She pointed at Thorn and Layn. "You guys too, he was watching you both as if he was thinking up of ways to cook you up."

"Do you think… he's new to this galaxy?" Donna speculated. "There's no way he's been flying around the edge of the galaxy in this massive ship without anyone noticing."

"True. Your words hold merit," Thorn agreed with a nod. "Which means it's imperative that we bring this up to the Council."

"If we ever make it back, of course," Silvia said, her brow raised. She laid her head back and closed her eyes to rest.

"He could even be a Reaper," Thorn uttered.

Silvia remained still, unwilling to put forth any protest or effort to argue against the existence of some mythical beings bent on the galaxy's genocide. She knew they weren't real. It was impossible. She clung to her beliefs.

"Reapers?" the A.I.'s voice peeped up from no where. "I apologize for my intrusion, but what are these Reapers you speak of?"

"Beings of mass destruction. Commander Jane Shepard warned us of them when Saren attacked the Citadel with what seemed to be a Reaper starship, Sovereign."

"Interesting," Beta's curiosity was piqued. "Tell me more."

"I don't know anymore. Nobody does. Only Shepard knew because she was the one that pursued Saren and saved the Citadel."

"Who is Shepard?"

"A biotic human. She was an N7 Commander of the Alliance and the first human Spectre."

"Tell me of her tales and deeds."

"She was the war hero of Elysium, single-handedly repelling the attack of batarian slavers."

Thorn told the A.I. of all everything that entailed Shepard's known adventures, missions, and reputation. Beta was greatly impressed and continued bombarding the poor salarian with endless questions until his last question.

"Where is Shepard?"

Thorn was silent. He hung his neck over, tightening his lips, and mournfully spoke through his teeth as he squeezed out, "Shepard's dead."

Beta was silent at first, as to not ruin the squad's mood even further. "Oh. Apologies," he said.

The Spectres didn't hear from him again.

Donna and Silvia fell asleep from the absolute silence and the two salarians remained awake, impatient, waiting for something to happen. Following a long, most torturous hour for the salarians and a peaceful rest for the asari, footsteps could be heard down the wall. The 2 asari woke up immediately and all 4 of the Spectres rushed and pressed their heads up against the bars, struggling to see what was down the hall. Xytan was walking towards them carrying 2 limp bodies on his shoulders. They were 2 turians and the Spectres recognized them.

"Malen! Raas!"

Xytan opened up a cell and tossed them inside.

"You bastard!" Silvia cried. "What did you do to them!?"

The sangheili gave her only a mere glance and carried on with his task. The cell quickly closed as he left. Soon, he returned with 2 more, and finally after that, 2 more again. He was done with his transport.

Before he could leave, Silvia asked, "What are you going to do with us?"

Xytan paused hesitantly.

"Why not kill us?"

He turned around to look towards her.

"I'm keeping you as captives for my security," he told her.

She tightened her grasp on the metal bars. "Then when will we ever get out?"

"When doing so will not jeopardize me." He turned away.

"Wait!" she called. The tall sangheili froze. "I'm hungry."

"I'll retrieve some nourishments from the ship's kitchens," he replied and departed.

Soon Xytan came back, walking down the hall. None of the Spectres imprisoned from the opposite side had awakened yet. He was carrying a stuffed, large, chrome bag. He squatted in front of their cell with it at hand and handed it to Silvia. The 3 surrounding Spectres watched with interest as she tore open the bag. As it popped open, a distinct, yet faint smell spread throughout the air and invaded their senses.

"Is that beef jerky?" Donna asked.

"No," said Xytan. He threw them bottles of water. "It's dried colo."

"What's a colo?"

"Farm-raised animals. We eat them. They're like… human cattle."

Chewing on the colo jerky, Silvia asked, "You seem to be familiar with humans. How do you know them?"

Xytan smiled, knowing they couldn't possibly know anything about him. "I've warred with them for centuries. Me and my men have murdered, raped, and pillaged tens of billions of humans," he lied.

His audience were all terrified.

"Kidding." He quickly slipped out of the hallway and left, murmuring, "That's mostly a lie."

Xytan walked to his bedroom and attended to his usual nightly routine, brushing his four mandibles clean, showering away the stench, and dressing in his traditional full-length robes. He sat on the bedside as he tied a stash around. He rarely wore these garments because he had to keep up with his appearances. Wandering around a warship with them on would seem too lax, but with no one spying on him or scrutinizing his every move, he was free from the usual restrictions that came with his rank as Imperial Admiral.

Xytan began thinking, reminiscing about his younger days. He squeezed out a smile. He missed the bonds he held with his fellow sangheili brethren. He thought of his first feat that led to his fame, when he wrestled a strong jiralhanae to the ground to submission. He could still feel the aching muscles that came as a result. He remembered training for combat on larger worlds; he once entered chambers with 3 times the gravity than that of Sangheilios. He recalled Fal 'Chavamee and his heresy that led to the title of Arbiter becoming a disgrace. He secretly idolized the historical figure. Despite the Covenant tainting his true history, Xytan realized he was a great warrior with honor and integrity. Xytan also recalled Atriox and the Banished. Although a detestable jiralhanae, he was the only one Xytan admired for his well-organized rebellion against the Covenant. He was one Xytan had always wanted to face in battle, to duel against, to war against.

Xytan finally came to his last, hard hitting recollection, which is that he lost everything he ever knew. He became forlorn. Warriors didn't cry, much less Admirals and Heroes, but he shed a tear. He wouldn't become a legend, he wouldn't be remembered, and he wouldn't be there to see Sanghelios again. In the end, before he could grow to become an unforgettable and immortal figure, remembered throughout his kind's history, his luck ran astray and his prospects were atomized. His eyes lost their light and he gazed off to the side, unmoving and lost in his depressing thoughts. He would never lead his clan as Kaidon, fight alongside his fellow sangheili, and his legend would never continue. He lost it all.

"Xytan?" Beta's distinct voice pervaded the room. "Is something wrong?"

The large sangheili kept still as he quietly spoke solemnly, "What do I do now? Beta?" The A.I. was speechless. "I have nothing. I have lost everything. There is nothing to live for. So what say you? Beta? What do I do?"

The A.I. needed time to adjust to this new behavior. "Frankly sir, I believed you were intent on making a name for yourself."

"A name for myself…?" Xytan repeated inaudibly.

"Yes. To become a legend Xytan. I was under the impression that that was what you strove for."

"I wish to become a legend among my own people, but how am I to do that if I am no longer among them?"

"If you're no longer a part of your people, then that would mean you would have to join another," Beta said. "You are no longer in the old world, so join the new."

"It is not that simple. I am sangheili and I shall forever remain one, as I wish to be, as I love to be, as I am and always have been."

"You don't need to cast away your identity, Xytan. Simply change yourself or change others. Perhaps even both. Adjust to this new universe. Whether your conquer it or submit to it, I will always be by your side. You came into your old world for a purpose, and coming to this world has renewed that purpose. Become immortal, figuratively and literally, Xytan. Become a legend."

Xytan couldn't retort to his artificial friend's irrefutable logic. Instead, he felt a fiery drive in his heart he hadn't felt since the Great Schism began. He was inspired, and laid his head against his plushy pillow, inspired to drift away from the physical world, comfortably asleep and safe from all dangers. He was determined to live on.


	5. Chapter 5

-For My Reference-

A galactic standard day comprises 20 hours. Each hour comprises 100 minutes. Each minute comprises 100 seconds. Each second is half as long as a human second. As a result, a twenty-hour galactic standard day is 15.7% longer than a standard twenty-four hour Terran Coordinated Universal day, which means it lasts 27 hours, 46 minutes, and 40 seconds in Earth-based time.

Gregorian calendar

I KNOW MASS EFFECT AND HALO LORE NOW FIGHT ME!

Shout out to Sierra for bombarding my brain with knowledge.

I forgot that in the Mass Effect gameplay, shields actually blocked biotics. I'm sure that all of what he said to me will fit in with what I already had. I know Halo has better shields because you can stick an ultra elite with 1 or 2 sticky nades and he'll live. Those sticky nades are supposed to literally delete people. Melt them in an instant. Vaporize them! Kinetic shields can do nothing against this heat.

Btw, I know Xytan's height might possibly be shorter than depicted, but idc. He's 11"6 in my world.

There's also some other inconsistencies. For example, he didn't do his speech on board the ship, but on a planet. WOOPS. I'll fix that. All I have to do is change a few sentences and words.

Someone tell me if I have any INCONSISTENCIES before I build on them.

(I might move this fiction at some point)

And how the hell does chapter 4 have more views than chapter 3?

Y'all can imagine Beta's voice or accent any way you want, but he's UK in my head.

* * *

Deep in the subterranean seas of an aquatic planet, a group of mysterious beings rise and discuss the presence of an altogether new and mysterious alien that invaded their galaxy.

"Who is this new entity?" one asked.

"None know. Its presence here is… strange… timely…" another said.

"Its intrusion is no coincidence. To come here during a cycle's end, it is either unlucky or with purpose."

"Whatever it may be, we will watch as we always have and always will."

"Yes. We will watch. But this cycle has not yet met its end. There is hope for it."

The other paused at his fellow's words and scoffed. "As you say every cycle…"

They drooled back into the skull-shattering depths.

In the the Council chambers of the Citadel, before ending a meeting, the human councillor, Anderson, uttered his worries about their missing agents, "Where are the squad of Spectres we've sent? They should have been here days ago."

All the councillors ceased their actions to depart.

"Yes, it's strange," said Quentius. "I've sent my best turians on that task."

As the rest began to voice their worries, the salarian councillor Esheel's eyes became dizzied and her fingers rubbed together. Her lips were slightly agape, reluctant to speak, but she confessed, "Valen contacted me yesterday." All the councillors turned to her, some shocked and some unsurprised. "They found a large ship in the Terminus System."

Irissa squinted at her menacingly, being the first to respond. "And you thought it wise not to tell us?" she asked.

"Yes; it was 16 kilometers long." She glanced at Irissa and released a short sigh. "And it might had pertained to the Reapers."

Irissa's stern chin loosened.

Quentius struck his desk. "We must send aid to them at once!" he shouted.

"Calm yourself, turian, they can handle the task," said Esheel, raising her hand towards him, "and if they don't give us word in 3 days, we will send Spectres."

The councillors agreed on the decision and their meeting finally concluded.

Chapter 4

On Board the Sublime Transcendence

2 more days had passed and Beta had finally finished creating the slipspace drive. Xytan was watching the finishing touches as he was biting into some colo jerky. It was delicious, but he had grown used to it. The meaty, peppery taste was dulled to him over the years. He dreamed of biting into freshly boiled helioskrill eggs and crunching on pickled cabbage. Yes. Cabbage.

"Xytan, the slipspace drive is finished," Beta reported. At least thirty huragoks and a countless number Constructors flew out in lines to attend other duties.

"Excellent," Xytan voiced and jumped up from his seat. "Then we must move at once! Where should we head to?"

"I'm plotting a course to uncharted land, where none will find us. It's a system with a great abundance of the elements necessary for us to sustain ourselves and for your ship to rebuild."

"Let us go, then."

"But keep in mind, sir, this is for a one time use only. We will need to build another drive and it will take us at least a few months."

"Acknowledged, Beta." Xytan chewed the last remaining bits of his jerky and chugged some water down. "I'll go check on our prisoners."

"And I'll be preparing us for slipspace."

The sliding doors split apart for Xytan and he headed down a long hallway, towards the prison block. He had free time to waste, but instead a lot of his thoughts centered around the asari, Silvia, and her biotics. Those powers seemed exclusive to this universe, special and strange, so he mused over how it'd react in direct contact with him, a stranger. He wasn't from this place and his shields blocked biotics, as far as he knew. At last, he could see the gleaming lights of the prison blocks' entrance. The walk consumed almost 20 minutes, but his constant stream of thought made it seem short.

The doors were noisy, almost obnoxious so as they opened, alerting his prisoners. His footsteps too were loud and clunky—one of the many reasons why he never installed invisibility.

He stood before them, his shining silver armor almost blinding.

"Hungry? Thirsty any of you?" he asked.

The couple that were still miraculously asleep instantly awoken and most of his audience's heated eyes glued onto him. There was hate, awe, and suspicion, all floating in the air, but his countenance remained undisturbed.

"I'd like some more of that colo jerky," Raas spoke up. The sharp stares he gathered from his request struck him with some discomfort.

Xytan glanced back at him and chortled, his eyes shrinking with humor. "If my kind were imprisoned, they would had either killed themselves for it or try to break out." He squatted in front of the turian in his cell and tossed him a bag of colo jerky. "But I've realized, later on, that honor, code, and rules such as that were what held my people back."

Xytan took sips from his water.

"I respect them, but idealism has limits." He took a last drink from his water as he rose up straight.

"Xytan we have reached our destination," Beta informed.

The tall sangheili, suddenly spat out some water and choked, ruining the atmosphere he built up. Beating on his chest, and speaking between coughs, he uttered, "W-ck-what? I th-ck-ought we only be-ck-gan our journey 20 minutes ago?"

"Yes, and in the span of 27 minutes we have traveled approximately 46 light years."

"46 light years!" he exclaimed. His throat finally cleared up. "How is this possible?!"

"With the slipspace drive, of course."

"That should've taken us at least an hour and a half!"

"I am of Forerunner construct, so of course the drive, though crude, would also be of Forerunner construct."

"And if you were allowed to build one with all time and materials at hand?"

"We would be able to travel 475 light years in an hour."

Xytan's mandibles gaped open in awe. "So where are we now, Beta?" he asked, going through his words at the speed of light.

"According to the map recovered from Spectre data, we're now between the clusters Perseus Veil and Sentry Omega."

Raas didn't understand their talk in sangheili, but he recognized the clusters they named and asked, "Have we already jumped to F.T.L.?"

"Yes, we have," Beta answered. A cold winter swept over Raas as Xytan glanced at him, his discrete mandible twitching.

Silvia stood up bravely and asked, "Then where are we?"

Xytan gave her a stern look, narrowing his eyes. Before Beta could answer, "Someplace you don't need to know about," he answered her, "and no more questions shall be answered."

She could barely withhold her opposition, her mouth wide open to protest, but she ultimately sat back down. Her anger was hidden by her sides. Xytan, satisfied, looked around at all his prisoners with a sharp and arrogant pair of eyes.

"We shall talk on the bridge, Beta," Xytan declared. He left his prisoners and sauntered down the corridor.

As he walked without a single word, he suddenly uttered, "Beta, next time, don't answer the prisoners' questions."

"... Acknowledged."

They were quiet for the rest of his trip.

Before long, a pair of doors slid open before the silver sangheili and he entered the main bridge. The room he faced, though, looked as if it were a black hole, all devoid of light. The sight of abandonment and darkness disheartened him and his jaws slacked. It used to be lively, with at least 50 men manning these consoles and stations. He marched up unto the upper platform and traced his hand over the large holotank in the center, feeling the cool touch of its nanolaminate, but without further delay, strolled past it and the control stations that surrounded it.

There rested his chair near the opposite end of the holotank and he went to sit upon it. It was comfortable, the cushions, and so was the cold metal of the curved armrests, gently stinging his rested arms. As he enjoyed the nostalgic comfort of his throne, the entire room was brought back to life. Everything illuminated: the blue and purple consoles and holotank, the green controls, and the veins of energy flowing throughout the ship. Even the chair powered up—a few square panels tracing its fine lines lit up in azure and—and it began to hover in the air.

Xytan rested his cheek on his hand and closed his eyes, taking in the stale, vacant air, and the blue light that penetrated his eyelids.

"Beta. How long will it take for the ship to rebuild?" he asked.

"Approximately a year," Beta answered automatically.

Xytan opened his eyes lazily, his ice blue eyes piercing through their slivers. "What's the date?"

"According to the widely used Gregorian Calendar, it's October 27th, 2183 C.E."

"Mm." He moved the chair towards the holotank, floating, and tapped its controls. "Teach me what you know about this galaxy. What kind of universe have I brought myself to?"

The holotank lit up brightly and the materialized form of Beta was revealed. He was human, strangely, and his motions, lifelike. He replied, with a happy, human smile, "Gladly. Up for a history lesson?"

"Anything to pass a year's time."

Beta grinned. "From the codex I've recovered from the Spectre's omnitools, I've learned that the one of the most earliest and confirmed races were the Protheans." He waved his hand and a primitive painting of a prothean popped up."Allegedly, they created the Mass Relays, which were…"

"Gods… I wish I was sparring with Rtas 'Vadum" Xytan murmured under his breath. "Or even Thel 'Vadam. Maybe both."

The lesson of the Protheans wasn't very concise, despite limited accounts of their existence and history.

"- Then the Protheans mysteriously vanished with no records or evidence of their extinction. Only their technology was passed down. The first ones to recover this technology were the…"

Xytan amused himself, experimenting in his mind with untested strategies and tactics, or imagining vividly what a fight would be with Master Chief, the Demon himself. He was truly bemused by his own kind. Why would they continue to fight honorably with a dishonorable foe? Their enemies took advantage of the very things that made them Sangheili. Though he still respected the honor, code, and the rest of his kind's ethics, he was a bit flexible with them. He followed them, but not blindly. He lived by them, but didn't die by them.

"Are you paying attention Xytan?" Beta asked. The little orange human's brows frowned lightly.

Xytan lifted his head up immediately and relinquished his lazy gaze. "Sorry. I was simply lost in my own thoughts," he said.

"Mhm. Onward then." Beta waved his hand and there appeared an image of an asari. "After that, the asari were…"

Beta continued on with his important lessons and Xytan gave him his absolute attention, from time to time.

A Year Later

November 1st, 2184 C.E.

On the planet, New Haven, unofficially named by Xytan, a group of Spectres forage around an island for food, water, and supplies. They were split into teams: Malen with Raas, Donna with Silvia, Thorn with Layn, and Vulen with the last two turian Spectres, Caesar and Brutus.

The place was an alien paradise. Exotic plants grew everywhere and strange fauna skittered about. Fortunately most of the plants were recognizable through their omni-tools.

"Beta has more of a soul than Xytan," Malen mumbled as he was picking out some green berries.

"Yeah, I get you man," Raas replied. The turian was crouched down, poking a giant, snail-looking creature with a stray stick. The two turian friends were searching the northwest area, as according to Silvia's plan, and the plan was that everybody was to head towards a direction in search of supplies. At the end of the day they were to head back west to the beach and regroup.

"You think we can eat this?" Raas picked the creature by its shell and shoved it in front of Malen's face.

Malen examined it closely for a moment, but gagged at the sight of a thick mucus dripping from its end and he slapped it from Raas' hand. "Hell no! No one's gonna eat that."

Raas' mouth curved down in disappointment. When Malen turned away, he picked up the snail-like creature and whispered, carrying it away with him, "Don't worry little guy. I'm sure you're gonna be tasty."

Its pink flesh jiggled in fear.

Malen stepped away to hide behind a tree, wiping his face of his disgust, and began snacking on a few of his berries. They were sugary, juicy, savory, and almost overwhelmingly so, but his sweet tooth was in pure ecstasy.

"By the…" He moaned, green jelly overflowing in his mouth. "... These are heavenly."

Xytan would never had allowed them to roam freely, but Beta convinced the stern giant, saying how "the salarians might go insane from such inactivity in a small cell." He reasoned that the Spectres couldn't do much anyways. They had no tools or weapons, except their omni-tools—which didn't serve them any good against them. They were at a drastic technological disadvantage and any attempt of escape or rebellion would have them stuck back in a caged box. They were on an alien world in undiscovered space. Once the salarians gave up, so did the others, one by one. There was no escape until release, they realized, and as time time passed, it wasn't bad. Some of them were even mildly content with exploring an exotic planet.

The Sublime Transcendence hovered above them, all in its repaired entirety. It was awe-inspiring that such a titanic starship could easily float above a planet. It was 30 kilometers long, 12 kilometers wide, and 4 kilometers high. It was back in its original shape, with its enormous, bulbous head, hook-like prow, and elegant curves. Its exotic, violet sheen penetrated the clouds and brandished the heavens. It was so alien, strange, and unlike anything seen in the galaxy.

The Spectres couldn't explain it, but they understood that Xytan was an alien to their galaxy.

The legendary sangheili himself was in one of the combat simulation chambers of the Sublime Transcendence, currently fighting an imitation of a Spartan II. His movements were quick, fluid, powerful, and meaningful. Every slash, step, and dash was calculated, honed through years of practice, battle, and experience. No matter what ranks he held in the past, he was foremost a warrior. Shortly after a few bouts and clashes, he finally landed a lunge through the Spartan's chest. He watched as it dematerialized and calmly sheathed his energy sword. For a moment, his dazed, empty eyes remained on the space where the illusion once was. He sat down, slouched with his elbows pressing on his knees. His breathing and heartbeat were still, steady, and trained, but he was lost and gazing at the metal floor, unmoving. It wasn't enough.

"Xytan, would you like me to update the systems?" said Beta, disrupting the silence.

"What systems?" Xytan asked. He stood up.

"Combat Simulations. Targeting Systems. Energy Shields. Navigations."

Xytan walked over and deactivated the simulation. "Go ahead."

Beta began to hum the halo theme as he went to work and Xytan left the room. The silver-clad alien marched across the halls, heading to the bridge. He wondered about the human, Shepard, whom Beta told him of. She was dead, but the news about the Reapers were disturbing. If what she said was true, then his intrusion into this galaxy was simply bad luck. He must prepare for what was to come, and perhaps prepare to defeat them. Soon he reached the bridge. The doors slid open with their loud, iconic, and high pitched beep. He glanced at the consoles as he passed by and sat upon his hovering throne.

"What do we need to keep the ship up and running?" he asked, shuffling in his chair.

Beta recalled a race he read from the galaxy networks' records and codex. "Quarians," Beta replied quickly.

"Quarians?"

"They're a sentient species and very good with technology."

"I know, but are there any alternatives?"

"We could turn to the Geth. They're A.I., vastly inferior to me, but highly advanced, and-

"And they were created by the Quarians," Xytan said boorishly.

"Yes, and unfortunately relations between the two races are volatile."

"I'll have both of them then," Xytan stated

"Excuse me? Bo-"

"Both of them."

"Sir, that's very unlikely."

Xytan was stern. "I'll get both of them."

Beta sighed in defeat. "And indeed you will."

"Don't be so _glum_ Beta. I'll convince them to coexist."

"And how will you do that?" Beta asked.

"With force!" His fists slammed down on the arm rests. "I'll assault them both and incite them to unite against me."

Beta paused, taken aback, but then clicked his non-existent tongue. "And convince them to join you? How will you do that after attacking them?"

"I won't convince them."

"Then how will they ever join you!?" Beta asked, his panic sprouting.

Xytan smiled and waved him off. "They'll join me."

Beta lamented in silence.

"Don't be so _glum_ Beta, for I am the great Imperial Admiral, Xytan 'Jar Wattinree."

Beta was surprised by Xytan's newfound enthusiasm and positivity. "You boggle my processors, Admiral."

Xytan smirked at his friend's remark. He laid back in his chair and ordered, "Onward to Perseus Veil! We will go to Rannoch!" He leaned forward, bending his back, and poked a button on the holotank's controls. Beta appeared, orange, human, small, his forehead creased. "This will be a difficult endeavor," said Xytan.


End file.
